296 LITERATURE OF GNOSTIC WISDOM
IGNORANCE
Ignorance is the mother of all evil.
Ignorance will eventuate in death,
because those who come from ignorance
neither were nor are nor will be.
But those who are in the truth will be perfect
when all the truth is revealed.
For truth is like ignorance: while hidden it rests in itself,
but when revealed and recognized,
it is praised in that it is stronger than ignorance and error.
It gives freedom. The word said,
"If you know the truth, the truth will make you free."^85
Ignorance is a slave,
knowledge is freedom.
If we know the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth
within us.
If we join it, it will fulfill us.THE STRONG AND WEAK,
THE MANIFEST AND HIDDEN
Now we have the manifest things of creation.
We say, "The strong are they who are held in high regard,
and the obscure are the weak who are despised."
Contrast the manifest things of truth:
they are weak and despised, whereas the hidden things are strong
and held in high regard.
The mysteries of truth are revealed,
though, in type and image.^86
The bridal chamber remains hidden.
It is the holy in the holy.
The veil at first concealed how god controls creation,
but when the veil is torn and things inside are revealed,- John 8:32.
- This fits in with the Alexandrian gnostic invention of hermeneutics, an allegorical way of
interpreting scripture.